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Commitments and Contingencies (Notes)
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments

The Company has the following firm commitments that are not reflected on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Minimum payments as of December 31, 2020 are as follows (in millions):
2026 and
20212022202320242025ThereafterTotal
Contract type:
Fuel, capacity and transmission contract commitments
$2,122 $1,559 $1,307 $1,285 $1,047 $12,985 $20,305 
Construction commitments783 372 148 — — 4 1,307 
Easements72 74 74 73 73 2,229 2,595 
Maintenance, service and other contracts
413 366 313 257 210 1,435 2,994 
$3,390 $2,371 $1,842 $1,615 $1,330 $16,653 $27,201 

Fuel, Capacity and Transmission Contract Commitments

The Utilities have fuel supply and related transportation and lime contracts for their coal- and natural gas-fueled generating facilities. The Utilities expect to supplement these contracts with additional contracts and spot market purchases to fulfill their future fossil fuel needs. The Utilities acquire a portion of their electricity through long-term purchases and exchange agreements. The Utilities have several power purchase agreements with renewable generating facilities that are not included in the table above as the payments are based on the amount of energy generated and there are no minimum payments. The Utilities also have contracts for the right to transmit electricity over other entities' transmission lines to facilitate delivery to their customers.
MidAmerican Energy has long-term rail transportation contracts with BNSF Railway Company ("BNSF"), an affiliate company, and Union Pacific Railroad Company for the transportation of coal to all of the MidAmerican Energy-operated coal-fueled generating facilities. For the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, $90 million, $123 million and $111 million, respectively, were incurred for coal transportation services, the majority of which was related to the BNSF agreement.

Construction Commitments

The Company's firm construction commitments reflected in the table above include the following major construction projects:
•PacifiCorp's costs associated with certain generating plant, transmission and distribution projects.
•MidAmerican Energy's firm construction commitments primarily consisting of contracts for the repowering and construction of wind-powered generating facilities.
•Nevada Power's firm construction commitment consisting of costs associated with the planned Dry Lake generating facility, a 150 MW solar photovoltaic facility with an additional 100 MW capacity of co-located battery storage that will be developed in Clark County, Nevada and certain other generating plant projects.
•AltaLink's investments in directly assigned transmission projects from the AESO.

Easements

The Company has non-cancelable easements for land on which certain of its assets, primarily wind-powered generating facilities, are located.

Maintenance, Service and Other Contracts

The Company has entered into service agreements related to its nonregulated solar and wind-powered projects with third parties to operate and maintain the projects under fixed-fee operating and maintenance agreements. Additionally, the Company has various non-cancelable maintenance, service and other contracts primarily related to turbine and equipment maintenance and various other service agreements.

Legal Matters

The Company is party to a variety of legal actions arising out of the normal course of business. Plaintiffs occasionally seek punitive or exemplary damages. The Company does not believe that such normal and routine litigation will have a material impact on its consolidated financial results.

California and Oregon 2020 Wildfires

In September 2020, a severe weather event resulting in high winds, low humidity and warm temperatures contributed to several major wildfires, private and public property damage, personal injuries and loss of life and widespread power outages in Oregon and Northern California (the "2020 Wildfires"). The wildfires spread across certain parts of PacifiCorp's service territory and surrounding areas across multiples counties in Oregon and California, including Siskiyou County, California; Jackson County, Oregon; Douglas County, Oregon; Marion County, Oregon; Lincoln County, Oregon; and Klamath County, Oregon burning over 500,000 acres in aggregate. Third party reports for these wildfires indicate over 2,000 structures, including residences, destroyed; several structures damaged; multiple individuals injured; and several fatalities. Fire suppression costs estimated by various agencies total approximately $150 million. Investigations into the cause and origin of each wildfire are complex and ongoing and are being conducted by various entities, including the United States Forest Service, the California Public Utilities Commission, the Oregon Department of Forestry, the Oregon Department of Justice, PacifiCorp and various experts engaged by PacifiCorp.

Five lawsuits have been filed in Oregon and California, including a putative class action complaint in Oregon, on behalf of citizens and businesses who suffered damages from fires allegedly caused by PacifiCorp. The final determinations of liability, however, will only be made following comprehensive investigations and litigation processes.
In California, under inverse condemnation, courts have held that investor-owned utilities can be liable for real and personal property damages without the utility being found negligent and regardless of fault. California law also permits inverse condemnation plaintiffs to recover reasonable attorney fees and costs. In both Oregon and California, PacifiCorp has equipment in areas accessed through special use permits, easements or similar agreements that may contain provisions requiring it to pay for damages caused by its equipment regardless of fault. Even if inverse condemnation or other provisions do not apply, PacifiCorp could nevertheless be found liable for all damages proximately caused by negligence, including property and natural resource damage; fire suppression costs; personal injury and loss of life damages; and interest.

PacifiCorp has accrued $136 million as its best estimate of the potential losses net of expected insurance recoveries associated with the 2020 Wildfires that are considered probable of being incurred. These accruals include estimated losses for fire suppression costs, property damage, personal injury damages and loss of life damages. It is reasonably possible that PacifiCorp will incur additional losses beyond the amounts accrued; however, PacifiCorp is currently unable to estimate the range of possible additional losses that could be incurred due to the number of properties and parties involved and the lack of specific claims for all potential claimants. To the extent losses beyond the amounts accrued are incurred, additional insurance coverage is expected to be available to cover at least a portion of the losses.

Environmental Laws and Regulations

The Company is subject to federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations regarding climate change, renewable portfolio standards, air and water quality, emissions performance standards, coal combustion byproduct disposal, hazardous and solid waste disposal, protected species and other environmental matters that have the potential to impact the Company's current and future operations. The Company believes it is in material compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

Hydroelectric Relicensing

PacifiCorp is a party to the 2016 amended Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement ("KHSA"), which is intended to resolve disputes surrounding PacifiCorp's efforts to relicense the Klamath Hydroelectric Project. The KHSA establishes a process for PacifiCorp, the states of Oregon and California ("States") and other stakeholders to assess whether dam removal can occur consistent with the settlement's terms. For PacifiCorp, the key elements of the settlement include: (1) a contribution from PacifiCorp's Oregon and California customers capped at $200 million plus $250 million in California bond funds; (2) complete indemnification from harms associated with dam removal; (3) transfer of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") license to a third-party dam removal entity, the Klamath River Renewal Corporation ("KRRC"), who would conduct dam removal; and (4) ability for PacifiCorp to operate the facilities for the benefit of customers until dam removal commences.

In September 2016, the KRRC and PacifiCorp filed a joint application with the FERC to transfer the license for the four mainstem Klamath dams from PacifiCorp to the KRRC. The FERC approved partial transfer of the Klamath license in a July 2020 order, subject to the condition that PacifiCorp remains co-licensee. Under the amended KHSA, PacifiCorp did not agree to remain co-licensee during the surrender and removal process given concerns about liability protections for PacifiCorp and its customers. In November 2020, PacifiCorp entered a memorandum of agreement (the "MOA") with the KRRC, the Karuk Tribe, the Yurok Tribe and the States to continue implementation of the KHSA. The agreement required the States, PacifiCorp and KRRC to file a new license transfer application by January 16, 2021 to remove PacifiCorp from the license for the Klamath Hydroelectric Project and add the States and KRRC as co-licensees for the purposes of surrender. On January 13, 2021, the new license transfer application was filed with the FERC, notifying it that PacifiCorp and the KRRC are not accepting co-licensee status under FERC's July 2020 order, and instead are seeking the license transfer outcome described in the new license transfer application. In addition, the MOA provides for additional contingency funding of $45 million, equally split between PacifiCorp and the States, and for PacifiCorp and the States to equally share in any additional cost overruns in the unlikely event that dam removal costs exceed the $450 million in funding to ensure dam removal is complete. The MOA also requires PacifiCorp to cover the costs associated with certain pre-existing environmental conditions.

As of December 31, 2020, PacifiCorp's assets included $21 million of costs associated with the Klamath hydroelectric system's mainstem dams and the associated relicensing and settlement costs, which are being depreciated and amortized in accordance with state regulatory approvals in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho through December 31, 2022.

    Hydroelectric Commitments

Certain of PacifiCorp's hydroelectric licenses contain requirements for PacifiCorp to make certain capital and operating expenditures related to its hydroelectric facilities, which are estimated to be approximately $182 million over the next ten years.
GuaranteesThe Company has entered into guarantees as part of the normal course of business and the sale of certain assets. These guarantees are not expected to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial results.
PacifiCorp [Member]  
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
Legal Matters

PacifiCorp is party to a variety of legal actions arising out of the normal course of business. Plaintiffs occasionally seek punitive or exemplary damages. PacifiCorp does not believe that such normal and routine litigation will have a material impact on its consolidated financial results.

California and Oregon 2020 Wildfires

In September 2020, a severe weather event resulting in high winds, low humidity and warm temperatures contributed to several major wildfires, private and public property damage, personal injuries and loss of life and widespread power outages in Oregon and Northern California. The wildfires spread across certain parts of PacifiCorp's service territory and surrounding areas across multiples counties in Oregon and California, including Siskiyou County, California; Jackson County, Oregon; Douglas County, Oregon; Marion County, Oregon; Lincoln County, Oregon; and Klamath County, Oregon burning over 500,000 acres in aggregate. Third party reports for these wildfires indicate over 2,000 structures, including residences, destroyed; several structures damaged; multiple individuals injured; and several fatalities. Fire suppression costs estimated by various agencies total approximately $150 million. Investigations into the cause and origin of each wildfire are complex and ongoing and are being conducted by various entities, including the United States Forest Service, the California Public Utilities Commission, the Oregon Department of Forestry, the Oregon Department of Justice, PacifiCorp and various experts engaged by PacifiCorp.
Five lawsuits have been filed in Oregon and California, including a putative class action complaint in Oregon, on behalf of citizens and businesses who suffered damages from fires allegedly caused by PacifiCorp. The final determinations of liability, however, will only be made following comprehensive investigations and litigation processes.

In California, under inverse condemnation, courts have held that investor-owned utilities can be liable for real and personal property damages without the utility being found negligent and regardless of fault. California law also permits inverse condemnation plaintiffs to recover reasonable attorney fees and costs. In both Oregon and California, PacifiCorp has equipment in areas accessed through special use permits, easements or similar agreements that may contain provisions requiring it to pay for damages caused by its equipment regardless of fault. Even if inverse condemnation or other provisions do not apply, PacifiCorp could nevertheless be found liable for all damages proximately caused by negligence, including property and natural resource damage; fire suppression costs; personal injury and loss of life damages; and interest.

PacifiCorp has accrued $136 million as its best estimate of the potential losses net of expected insurance recoveries associated with the 2020 Wildfires that are considered probable of being incurred. These accruals include estimated losses for fire suppression costs, property damage, personal injury damages and loss of life damages. It is reasonably possible that PacifiCorp will incur additional losses beyond the amounts accrued; however, PacifiCorp is currently unable to estimate the range of possible additional losses that could be incurred due to the number of properties and parties involved and the lack of specific claims for all potential claimants. To the extent losses beyond the amounts accrued are incurred, additional insurance coverage is expected to be available to cover at least a portion of the losses.
    
Environmental Laws and Regulations

PacifiCorp is subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations regarding air and water quality, renewable portfolio standards, emissions performance standards, climate change, coal combustion byproduct disposal, hazardous and solid waste disposal, protected species and other environmental matters that have the potential to impact PacifiCorp's current and future operations. PacifiCorp believes it is in material compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

Hydroelectric Relicensing

PacifiCorp is a party to the 2016 amended Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement ("KHSA"), which is intended to resolve disputes surrounding PacifiCorp's efforts to relicense the Klamath Hydroelectric Project. The KHSA establishes a process for PacifiCorp, the states of Oregon and California ("States") and other stakeholders to assess whether dam removal can occur consistent with the settlement's terms. For PacifiCorp, the key elements of the settlement include: (1) a contribution from PacifiCorp's Oregon and California customers capped at $200 million plus $250 million in California bond funds; (2) complete indemnification from harms associated with dam removal; (3) transfer of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") license to a third-party dam removal entity, the Klamath River Renewal Corporation ("KRRC"), who would conduct dam removal; and (4) ability for PacifiCorp to operate the facilities for the benefit of customers until dam removal commences.

In September 2016, the KRRC and PacifiCorp filed a joint application with the FERC to transfer the license for the four mainstem Klamath dams from PacifiCorp to the KRRC. The FERC approved partial transfer of the Klamath license in a July 2020 order, subject to the condition that PacifiCorp remains co-licensee. Under the amended KHSA, PacifiCorp did not agree to remain co-licensee during the surrender and removal process given concerns about liability protections for PacifiCorp and its customers. In November 2020, PacifiCorp entered a memorandum of agreement (the "MOA") with the KRRC, the Karuk Tribe, the Yurok Tribe and the States to continue implementation of the KHSA. The agreement required the States, PacifiCorp and KRRC to file a new license transfer application by January 16, 2021 to remove PacifiCorp from the license for the Klamath Hydroelectric Project and add the States and KRRC as co-licensees for the purposes of surrender. On January 13, 2021, the new license transfer application was filed with the FERC, notifying it that PacifiCorp and the KRRC are not accepting co-licensee status under FERC's July 2020 order, and instead are seeking the license transfer outcome described in the new license transfer application. In addition, the MOA provides for additional contingency funding of $45 million, equally split between PacifiCorp and the States, and for PacifiCorp and the States to equally share in any additional cost overruns in the unlikely event that dam removal costs exceed the $450 million in funding to ensure dam removal is complete. The MOA also requires PacifiCorp to cover the costs associated with certain pre-existing environmental conditions.

As of December 31, 2020, PacifiCorp's assets included $21 million of costs associated with the Klamath hydroelectric system's mainstem dams and the associated relicensing and settlement costs, which are being depreciated and amortized in accordance with state regulatory approvals in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho through December 31, 2022.
Hydroelectric Commitments

Certain of PacifiCorp's hydroelectric licenses contain requirements for PacifiCorp to make certain capital and operating expenditures related to its hydroelectric facilities, which are estimated to be approximately $182 million over the next ten years.

Commitments

PacifiCorp has the following firm commitments that are not reflected on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Minimum payments as of December 31, 2020 are as follows (in millions):
202120222023202420252026 and ThereafterTotal
Contract type:
Purchased electricity contracts -
commercially operable$223 $201 $195 $192 $172 $2,028 $3,011 
Purchased electricity contracts -
non-commercially operable25 25 25 26 28 456 585 
Fuel contracts636 426 368 320 137 611 2,498 
Construction commitments90 — — — — — 90 
Transmission104 97 90 74 49 409 823 
Easements14 14 13 13 13 278 345 
Maintenance, service and
other contracts100 69 40 35 36 214 494 
Total commitments$1,192 $832 $731 $660 $435 $3,996 $7,846 
    
    Purchased Electricity Contracts - Commercially Operable

As part of its energy resource portfolio, PacifiCorp acquires a portion of its electricity through long-term purchases and exchange agreements. PacifiCorp has several PPAs with solar or wind-powered generating facilities that are not included in the table above as the payments are based on the amount of energy generated and there are no minimum payments. Certain of these PPAs qualify as leases as described in Note 2. Refer to Note 5 for variable lease costs associated with these lease commitments.

Included in the minimum fixed annual payments for purchased electricity above are commitments to purchase electricity from several hydroelectric systems under long-term arrangements with public utility districts. These purchases are made on a "cost-of-service" basis for a stated percentage of system output and for a like percentage of system operating expenses and debt service. These costs are included in energy costs on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. PacifiCorp is required to pay its portion of operating costs and its portion of the debt service, whether or not any electricity is produced. These arrangements accounted for less than 5% of PacifiCorp's 2020, 2019 and 2018 energy sources.

    Purchased Electricity Contracts - Non-commercially Operable

PacifiCorp has several contracts for purchases of electricity from facilities that have not yet achieved commercial operation. To the extent any of these facilities do not achieve commercial operation, PacifiCorp has no obligation to the counterparty.

    Fuel Contracts

PacifiCorp has "take or pay" coal and natural gas contracts that require minimum payments.

    Construction Commitments

PacifiCorp's construction commitments included in the table above relate to firm commitments and include costs associated with certain generating plant, transmission, and distribution projects.

    
    Transmission

PacifiCorp has contracts for the right to transmit electricity over other entities' transmission lines to facilitate delivery to PacifiCorp's customers.
    
    Easements

PacifiCorp has non-cancelable easements for land on which certain of its assets, primarily wind-powered generating facilities, are located.

Guarantees

PacifiCorp has entered into guarantees as part of the normal course of business and the sale or transfer of certain assets. These guarantees are not expected to have a material impact on PacifiCorp's consolidated financial results.
MidAmerican Energy Company [Member]  
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]  
Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments

MidAmerican Energy had the following firm commitments that are not reflected on the Balance Sheet. Minimum payments as of December 31, 2020, are as follows (in millions):
2026 and
20212022202320242025ThereafterTotal
Contract type:
Coal and natural gas for generation$86 $55 $43 $— $— $— $184 
Electric capacity and transmission29 18 9 9 9 25 99 
Natural gas contracts for gas operations121 79 51 21 13 23 308 
Construction commitments442 287 2 — — 4 735 
Easements38 39 40 41 41 1,542 1,741 
Maintenance, services and other156 159 159 123 92 358 1,047 
$872 $637 $304 $194 $155 $1,952 $4,114 

Coal, Natural Gas, Electric Capacity and Transmission Commitments

MidAmerican Energy has coal supply and related transportation and lime contracts for its coal-fueled generating facilities. MidAmerican Energy expects to supplement the coal contracts with additional contracts and spot market purchases to fulfill its future coal supply needs. Additionally, MidAmerican Energy has a natural gas transportation contract for a natural gas-fueled generating facility. The contracts have minimum payment commitments ranging through 2023.

MidAmerican Energy has various natural gas supply and transportation contracts for its regulated natural gas operations that have minimum payment commitments ranging through 2042.

MidAmerican Energy has contracts to purchase electric capacity that have minimum payment commitments ranging through 2030. MidAmerican Energy also has contracts for the right to transmit electricity over other entities' transmission lines with minimum payment commitments ranging through 2022.

    Construction Commitments

MidAmerican Energy's firm construction commitments reflected in the table above consist primarily of contracts for the repowering and construction of wind-powered generating facilities and the settlement of AROs.
    Easements

MidAmerican Energy has non-cancelable easements with minimum payment commitments ranging through 2061 for land in Iowa on which certain of its assets, primarily wind-powered generating facilities, are located.

    Maintenance, Services and Other Contracts

MidAmerican Energy has other non-cancelable contracts primarily related to maintenance and services for various generating facilities with minimum payment commitments ranging through 2031.

Environmental Laws and Regulations

MidAmerican Energy is subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations regarding air and water quality, emissions performance standards, climate change, coal combustion byproduct disposal, hazardous and solid waste disposal, protected species and other environmental matters that have the potential to impact its current and future operations. MidAmerican Energy believes it is in material compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

Transmission Rates

MidAmerican Energy's wholesale transmission rates are set annually using FERC-approved formula rates subject to true-up for actual cost of service. MidAmerican Energy is authorized by the FERC to include a 0.50% adder beyond the approved base return on equity ("ROE") effective January 2015. Prior to September 2016, the rates in effect were based on a 12.38% ROE. In November 2013 and February 2015, a coalition of intervenors filed successive complaints with the FERC requesting that the 12.38% ROE no longer be found just and reasonable and sought to reduce the base ROE to 9.15% and 8.67%, respectively. In September 2016, the FERC issued an order for the first complaint, which reduces the base ROE to 10.32% and required refunds, plus interest, for the period from November 2013 through February 2015. Customer refunds relative to the first complaint occurred in February 2017. In November 2019, the FERC issued an order addressing the second complaint and issues on appeal in the first complaint. The order established an ROE of 9.88% (10.38% including the 0.50% adder) for the 15-month refund period of the first complaint and prospectively from September 2016 forward. In May 2020, the FERC issued an order on rehearing of the November 2019 order. The May 2020 order affirmed the FERC's prior decision to dismiss the second complaint and established an ROE of 10.02% (10.52% including the 0.50% adder) for the 15-month refund period of the first complaint and prospectively from September 2016 to the date of the May 2020 order. These orders continue to be subject to judicial appeal. MidAmerican Energy cannot predict the ultimate outcome of these matters and, as of December 31, 2020, has accrued a $9 million liability for refunds of amounts collected under the higher ROE during the periods covered by both complaints.

Legal Matters

MidAmerican Energy is party to a variety of legal actions arising out of the normal course of business. Plaintiffs occasionally seek punitive or exemplary damages. MidAmerican Energy does not believe that such normal and routine litigation will have a material impact on its financial results.
MidAmerican Funding, LLC and Subsidiaries [Member]  
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]  
Commitments and Contingencies
Refer to Note 13 of MidAmerican Energy's Notes to Financial Statements.

Legal Matters

MidAmerican Funding is party to a variety of legal actions arising out of the normal course of business. Plaintiffs occasionally seek punitive or exemplary damages. MidAmerican Funding does not believe that such normal and routine litigation will have a material impact on its consolidated financial results.
Nevada Power Company [Member]  
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
Environmental Laws and Regulations

Nevada Power is subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations regarding air and water quality, renewable portfolio standards, emissions performance standards, climate change, coal combustion byproduct disposal, hazardous and solid waste disposal, protected species and other environmental matters that have the potential to impact Nevada Power's current and future operations. Nevada Power believes it is in material compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

Senate Bill 123

In June 2013, the Nevada State Legislature passed Senate Bill 123 ("SB 123"), which included the retirement of coal plants and replacing the capacity with renewable facilities and other generating facilities. In May 2014, Nevada Power filed its ERCR Plan in compliance with SB 123. In July 2015, Nevada Power filed an amendment to its ERCR Plan with the PUCN which was approved in September 2015. In June 2015, the Nevada State Legislature passed Assembly Bill No. 498, which modified the capacity replacement components of SB 123.

In compliance with Senate Bill No. 123, Nevada Power retired 255 MWs of coal-fueled generation in 2019 in addition to the 557 MWs of coal-fueled generation retired in 2017.Consistent with the Emissions Reduction and Capacity Replacement Plan ("ERCR Plan"), between 2014 and 2016, Nevada Power acquired 536 MWs of natural gas generating resources, executed long-term power purchase agreements for 200 MWs of nameplate renewable energy capacity and constructed a 15-MW solar photovoltaic facility. Nevada Power has the option to acquire 35 MWs of nameplate renewable energy capacity in the future under the ERCR Plan, subject to PUCN approval.

Legal Matters

Nevada Power is party to a variety of legal actions arising out of the normal course of business. Plaintiffs occasionally seek punitive or exemplary damages. Nevada Power does not believe that such normal and routine litigation will have a material impact on its consolidated financial results. Nevada Power is also involved in other kinds of legal actions, some of which assert or may assert claims or seek to impose fines, penalties and other costs in substantial amounts.
Commitments

Nevada Power has the following firm commitments that are not reflected on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Minimum payments as of December 31, 2020 are as follows (in millions):
202120222023202420252026 and ThereafterTotal
Contract type:
Fuel, capacity and transmission contract commitments
$570 $409 $328 $328 $331 $3,197 $5,163 
Fuel and capacity contract commitments (not commercially operable)
— 35 74 197 229 4,965 5,500 
Construction commitments72 85 146 — — — 303 
Easements4 5 5 2 2 43 61 
Maintenance, service and other contracts48 44 32 23 12 6 165 
Total commitments$694 $578 $585 $550 $574 $8,211 $11,192 

    Fuel and Capacity Contract Commitments

        Purchased Power

Nevada Power has several contracts for long-term purchase of electric energy which have been approved by the PUCN. The expiration of these contracts range from 2026 to 2067. Purchased power includes estimated payments for contracts which meet the definition of a lease and payments are based on the amount of energy expected to be generated. See Note 5 for further discussion of Nevada Power's lease commitments.

        Natural Gas

Nevada Power's gas transportation contracts expire from 2022 to 2032 and the gas supply contracts expires from 2021 to 2022.

    Fuel and Capacity Contract Commitments - Not Commercially Operable

Nevada Power has several contracts for long-term purchase of electric energy in which the facility remains under development. Amounts represent the estimated payments under renewable energy power purchase contracts, which have been approved by the PUCN and are contingent upon the developers obtaining commercial operation and their ability to deliver power.

    Construction Commitments

Nevada Power's construction commitments included in the table above relate to firm commitments and include costs associated with the planned Dry Lake generating facility, a 150 MW solar photovoltaic facility with an additional 100 MW capacity of co-located battery storage that will be developed in Clark County, Nevada and certain other generating plant projects.

    Easements

Nevada Power has non-cancelable easements for land. Operations and maintenance expense on non-cancelable easements totaled $4 million, $7 million and $4 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

    Maintenance, Service and Other Contracts

Nevada Power has long-term service agreements for the performance of maintenance on generation units. Obligation amounts are based on estimated usage. The estimated expiration of these service agreements range from 2022 to 2027.
Sierra Pacific Power Company [Member]  
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
Environmental Laws and Regulations

Sierra Pacific is subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations regarding air and water quality, renewable portfolio standards, emissions performance standards, climate change, coal combustion byproduct disposal, hazardous and solid waste disposal, protected species and other environmental matters that have the potential to impact Sierra Pacific's current and future operations. Sierra Pacific believes it is in material compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

Legal Matters

Sierra Pacific is party to a variety of legal actions arising out of the normal course of business. Plaintiffs occasionally seek punitive or exemplary damages. Sierra Pacific does not believe that such normal and routine litigation will have a material impact on its financial results. Sierra Pacific is also involved in other kinds of legal actions, some of which assert or may assert claims or seek to impose fines, penalties and other costs in substantial amounts.

Commitments

Sierra Pacific has the following firm commitments that are not reflected on the Balance Sheet. Minimum payments as of December 31, 2020 are as follows (in millions):
2026 and
20212022202320242025ThereafterTotal
Contract type:
Fuel, capacity and transmission contract commitments
$327 $186 $98 $95 $96 $940 $1,742 
Fuel and capacity contract commitments (not commercially operable)
6 35 36 36 36 637 786 
Easements2 2 2 2 2 30 40 
Maintenance, service and other contracts9 7 2 1 1 — 20 
Total commitments$344 $230 $138 $134 $135 $1,607 $2,588 

    Fuel and Capacity Contract Commitments

        Purchased Power

Sierra Pacific has several contracts for long-term purchase of electric energy which have been approved by the PUCN. The expiration of these contracts range from 2022 to 2045. Purchased power includes estimated payments for contracts which meet the definition of a lease and payments are based on the amount of energy expected to be generated. See Note 5 for further discussion of Sierra Pacific's lease commitments.
        Coal and Natural Gas
    
Sierra Pacific has a long-term contract for the transport of coal that expires in 2021. Additionally, gas transportation contracts expire from 2022 to 2046 and the gas supply contracts expire from 2021 to 2022.

    Fuel and Capacity Contract Commitments - Not Commercially Operable

Sierra Pacific has several contracts for long-term purchase of electric energy in which the facility remains under development. Amounts represent the estimated payments under renewable energy power purchase contracts, which have been approved by the PUCN and are contingent upon the developers obtaining commercial operation and their ability to deliver power.

    Easements

Sierra Pacific has non-cancelable easements for land. Operating and maintenance expense on non-cancelable easements totaled $2 million for the years-ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018.

    Maintenance, Service and Other Contracts

Sierra Pacific has long-term service agreements for the performance of maintenance on generation units. Obligation amounts are based on estimated usage. The estimated expiration of these service agreements range from 2023 to 2025.
Eastern Energy Gas Holdings, LLC [Member]  
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
Environmental Laws and Regulations

Eastern Energy Gas is subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations regarding climate change, renewable portfolio standards, air and water quality, emissions performance standards, hazardous and solid waste disposal, protected species and other environmental matters that have the potential to impact Eastern Energy Gas' current and future operations. Eastern Energy Gas believes it is in material compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

Air

Revisions to Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Ozone Standards

The Clean Air Act includes National Ambient Air Quality Standards ("NAAQS"). States adopt rules that ensure their air quality meets the NAAQS. In October 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") published a rule lowering the ground level ozone NAAQS for non-attainment designations. States have until August 2021 to develop plans to address the new standard. Until the states have developed implementation plans for the standard, Eastern Energy Gas is unable to predict whether or to what extent the new rules will ultimately require additional controls. The expenditures required to implement additional controls could have a material impact on Eastern Energy Gas' results of operations and cash flows.

Oil and Gas New Source Performance Standards

In August 2020, the EPA issued two final amendments related to the reconsideration of the New Source Performance Standard ("NSPS") for the oil and natural gas sector applicable to volatile organic compound and methane emissions. Together, the two amendments have the effect of rescinding the methane portion of the NSPS for all segments of the oil and natural gas sector, rescinding all NSPS for the transmission and storage segment and modifying some of the NSPS volatile organic compound requirements for facilities in the production and processing segments. The two amendments have been challenged in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit but remain in effect pending the outcome of the litigation. Eastern Energy Gas is still evaluating whether potential impacts on results of operations, financial condition and/or cash flows related to this matter will be material.

Carbon Regulations

In August 2016, the EPA issued a draft rule proposing to reaffirm that a source's obligation to obtain a prevention of significant deterioration or Title V permit for greenhouse gases ("GHG") is triggered only if such permitting requirements are first triggered by non-GHG, or conventional, pollutants that are regulated by the New Source Review program, and to set a significant emissions rate at 75,000 tons per year of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions under which a source would not be required to apply best available control technology for its GHG emissions. Until the EPA ultimately takes final action on this rulemaking, Eastern Energy Gas cannot predict the impact to its results of operations, financial condition and/or cash flows.

Other Legal Matters

Eastern Energy Gas is party to a variety of legal actions arising out of the normal course of business. Plaintiffs occasionally seek punitive or exemplary damages. Eastern Energy Gas does not believe that such normal and routine litigation will have a material impact on its consolidated financial results.

Surety Bonds

As of December 31, 2020, Eastern Energy Gas had purchased $22 million of surety bonds. Under the terms of surety bonds, BHE is obligated to indemnify the respective surety bond company for any amounts paid.